Workforce

At year-end 2017, Vesteda employed 176 FTEs, a decline of 2.8% compared to the number of employees at year-end 2016 (181 FTEs). The number of employees had declined to 191 at year-end 2017, from 202 at year-end 2016.

Employees

Number of FTEs

2017

2016

2015

2014

2013

Year-end

176

181

179

189

227

Annual average*

175

179

179

211

235

*Average of 12x month-end balances

Number of employees

2017

2016

2015

2014

2013

Year-end

191

202

199

213

256

The average age of Vesteda employees dropped to 41.5 years of age in 2017 from 42.7 years of age in 2016. The largest portion (36%) of the workforce is between 35 and 45 years of age. The representation of the group younger than 35 years of age increased to 27%.

Workforce, by age

% of employees

2017

2016

2015

2014

2013

younger than 35 years

27

20

20

19

20

35 to 45 years

36

39

41

39

37

45 to 55 years

25

28

24

26

27

over 55 years

12

13

15

16

16

Total

100

100

100

100

100

For the first time in Vesteda’s history the male/female ratio changed in favour of the male population. At the end of 2017, 51% of the workforce was male, an increase of 3% compared to year-end 2016 (48%).

In 2017, 70 new employees joined Vesteda (44% female/56% male) and 81 employees left the company (52% female/48% male). Most of the departing employees chose not to relocate to Amsterdam following the decision to close our Maastricht office or had to leave because of fixed-term contracts that were not renewed.

The male/female ratio within the Managing Board is 100/0. In 2017, Vesteda’s Supervisory Committee consisted of five members, four male and one female.

Vesteda recognises the importance of an equal distribution of male and female members of its Managing Board and Supervisory Committee, taking into account that the candidate’s qualifications and suitability for the function profile are always the leading principle. Given the current composition and remaining term periods of the members of Supervisory Committee and the fact that there are relatively fewer female candidates in the real estate sector we do not foresee an equal distribution in the medium term.

At year-end 2017, 36% of Vesteda’s employees had a temporary contract (36 males and 32 females) and 64% (61 males and 62 females) had fixed contracts. Furthermore, at the end of 2017, 33% of Vesteda’s employees worked part-time, with 49 of these females versus 14 males. Most full-time employees are male (83 males versus 45 females).

Workforce, by gender

% of employees

2017

2016

2015

2014

2013

Male

51

48

49

47

45

Female

49

52

51

53

55

Total

100

100

100

100

100

Total remuneration

Total remuneration was €11.6 million (93% fixed and 7% variable) in 2017, which was slightly lower than the previous year (total remuneration 2016: €11.9 million).

Bonuses

Vesteda has a bonus scheme with a collective component that includes criteria such as the realised operational result, GRESB-score, tenant satisfaction score and increase of gross rental income. The variable remuneration also includes an individual component and in some cases a team component. Variable remuneration is only paid, in full or in part, if Vesteda’s realised results meet the targets sufficiently. This requirement was met in 2017.

Organisation, employee, trainee development and training

In 2017, Vesteda completed the implementation of the new organisational structure that it started in October 2016. Our organisational structure has been brought into line with the fully integrated business concept. Strategy, focus, core values and -activities are leading in the design of the new organisational structure. Processes have been clustered into departments based around our three core activities Portfolio Strategy, Operations and Acquisitions. The reorganisation was largely completed in June 2017. Employees who lost their position as a result of the new structure and the closure of our Maastricht office were eligible for the social plan, which provided for redundancy pay and outplacement. In 2017, Vesteda hired a large number of employees in Amsterdam, as a result of the closure of the Maastricht office. Three employees decided to follow their job from Maastricht to Amsterdam.

In 2017, we continued to implement the company-wide culture and organisation change programme called ‘Vesteda Verbetert’ (Vesteda Improves). Our aim is to transform Vesteda into a High Performance Organisation (HPO).

The HPO philosophy has been shared with and is backed by all employees. Activities are carried out for and by the staff members, guided and coached by ‘Verbeter coaches’ (improvement coaches from within the organisation). Vesteda Verbetert covers and impacts all departments, teams and individual employees. It will lead to additional synergies and continuous improvement in all business chains and processes.

Concrete actions were taken to further streamline the organisation and its processes and to stimulate and enable cooperation. The relocation in October 2017 to one head office in Amsterdam will help to enhance cooperation.

After identifying Vesteda’s unique mission, vision and core values in 2016, Vesteda devoted a great deal of attention in 2017 to explaining and working with the corresponding behavioural characteristics needed to achieve the desired organisation. The company developed an employee onboarding programme to introduce our new employees to our core values, culture and operations, to both welcome them to the organisation and provide them with the necessary knowledge to be successful and productive. In November, we introduced Impraise as an important feedback tool for the further empowerment of all employees and our culture. We started with a feedback event and invited each employee to ask five colleagues how they meet our core values. In 2018, we will roll out more events through Impraise and decide how the tool will or can be implemented in the performance cycle, supplemented by feedback workshops. The Works Council is closely involved in the evaluation of the use and success of the tool.

In November, we also started a new trainee programme, which we expect to lay the ground for challenging jobs at Vesteda. During the two-year programme, the four trainees will be given various assignments, changing the department they work in on average every six months. They have also been assigned a group (CSSR) project to develop their teamwork skills. The traineeship includes a personal leadership programme, with personal coaching, intervision and development workshops. Trainees are also supported by a mentor (MT members), a line manager and HR.

In 2017, Vesteda invested €401,000 (or 3.8% of the gross payroll) in the education and development of individual employees, the teams, CSSR workshops and the Vesteda Verbetert programme.

Absenteeism

Absenteeism remained low and showed only a small increase of 0.1% to 2.4% in 2017 from 2.3% in 2016.

Absenteeism

%

2017

2016

2015

2014

2013

Total absenteeism

2.4

2.3

3.1

4.4

3.9

Absenteeism excluding long-term leave (> one year)

2.4

2.3

3.1

4.4

3.6

Works Council

In February 2017, Vesteda elected a new Works Council. All five of the candidates were installed as members. We also drew up new regulations for a Works Council consisting of seven members. The Works Council will prepare additional elections in early 2018 for an additional two members.

In 2017, the Works Council and the Managing Board met a number of times according to a schedule. The meetings between the Managing Board and the Works Council were constructive. Topics addressed included the integration of salary scales, the trainee programme, the onboarding programme, new Works Council regulations, the introduction of the Impraise tool and the new ERP system in preparation for the issuance of an opinion in early 2018. In the first half of the year, the agenda was largely determined by the implementation of the new organisational structure and the closure of the former head office in Maastricht.